With a new library! This photo above is what it looked like when I started last September. So since I’ll just be in workshops all morning and then unpacking books all afternoon, I’ll post before and after photos of the new space.
Tag: library
June has been a roller coaster, for so many reasons. But today I’ll just talk a little about work. Today was my last day of school, and I packed up the last box in the library. It’s being renovated over the summer, and I’ve spent the entire month of June packing and prepping.
In the month since I’ve seen students for the first time, things have been super busy at work. I’m up to the 970s with weeding the nonfiction section. You can see above what I have left to do (left side) and what I’ve already done (right side). I still have to decide on shelf labels, but I will definitely hit my first big goal of weeding and shifting the nonfiction section by Halloween.
I’ve weeded a lot of books. And the vast majority of them were barcoded but never imported into our current library catalog. Not an exaggeration; on a cart of 200+ books I weeded this week, 10 were actually in the library catalog. I’m a little terrified of what’s left that’s uncatalogued. It looks like books were weeded but put back on the shelves. So that’s what’s currently giving me fever dreams. But things are definitely improving!
So, I got a part-time teaching job for September. I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago, and it’s a very exciting time.
I wasn’t actually planning on going back to teaching, but I started getting the itch this past spring. That itch to do my old work, to use that part of my brain, to teach. I consider a lot of things my work these days, but this was my work. I missed it. I was good at it. I had a hard time with how I left it. I applied to only this one two-day-a-week position thinking if I get it, great. If I don’t, that’s that.
And I got it.
And I’m excited. Really, really excited. Read more on My New Library…
I came up with this winter bulletin board idea around Thanksgiving, and I saved it for January. I love it so much that I might keep it up until spring. Can you tell the kids are having a snowball fight? I didn’t know if it would translate.
I have not even had a chance to finish my Halloween decorating at work, but I did get this bulletin board done last Friday. I’m in love with it. I love doing bulletin boards, but the past couple of years I hadn’t really had time to organize myself beyond my beloved library tree. This year is different. I love my Blast Off With Books board (a program that’s turning into a big hit, by the way). I still love my library tree. And now this back of the room board I’ll change up frequently.
I’ve been off the grid since the first day of school, it’s been HARD.
I was doing fine last Tuesday when the teachers started back to school; Adam stayed home with H that day. I was doing great the first day of school, when H went to her sitter Diana’s house for the first time. But then I picked her up on Wednesday and realized she’d spent an entire day with someone else. She had a great time, but it felt so surreal to me. Then I got a horrible night’s sleep, woke up in tears about the daunting prospect of another day with this new reality, got through Thursday, and had a complete breakdown after putting her to bed that night. The time with her after school just went too fast. I’ve never cried so hard in my life.
I don’t really start to feel December festive until this goes up. My 3rd and 4th graders helped get this up Thanksgiving week, and I love seeing it when I come in every day. Don’t ask me to explain, but this particular piece of the library (whatever the season) always makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Now that it’s posted, I can officially commence the holiday merriment.
I got my Halloween decorations up today! Now I feel festive.
It’s the first day of September, and for me the summer is over. But August had a lot of sweater days this year, surprisingly. Maybe that’s my own crazy body temperature, I’m not sure.